BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Junior Jerome Frink tallied his eighth double-double of the season with 26 points and 14 rebounds, and scored the 1,000th point of his collegiate career late in the second half of LIU Brooklyn's 82-69 win over Wagner on Thursday evening at the Steinberg Wellness Center.

Sophomore Martin Hermannsson also had a solid outing, scoring 17 points and pulling down 11 rebounds to go with five assists for the Blackbirds, who improved to 12-12 overall and 6-7 in Northeast Conference play.

Squaring off against a Wagner team that entered the night tied for first place in the NEC, LIU came out strong offensively thanks in large part to sophomore Nura Zanna. The 6-7 forward scored the first hoop of the game on an offensive putback, then scored a string of seven straight points to put the Blackbirds in front 19-16 at the 10:35 mark.

The Seahawks responded with six straight points to take a 22-19 lead and remained in front until a long three-pointer from Hermannsson sparked a 7-2 spurt to close the half. The final basket of the period came in emphatic and fitting fashion as Zanna threw down a one-handed tomahawk dunk over a Wagner defender to give the Blackbirds a 32-28 lead. Zanna closed with 14 first-half points while Frink and Hermannsson each had seven in the period.

Zanna continued his strong play early in the second half with a layup off a nice no-look pass from Frink. A three-point play from junior Aakim Saintil bumped the margin to 37-30 and, just over four minutes later, a bucket from Frink extended the margin to double figures at 46-36. 

Following a bank three-pointer from the Seahawks that trimmed the lead back to single digits, Frink answered with four straight points of his own to ignite a game-altering 15-2 run that bumped the Blackbirds in front by 20.

The 6-7 junior continued to wreck havoc on the Wagner defense, scoring from all angles. His three-pointer with 3:19 left gave him 1,000 career points, a total that includes the 587 points he scored while at Florida International. Just for good measure, the Jersey City, N.J. native canned another long jumper from the right wing moments later that gave the Blackbirds their largest lead at 76-55. LIU cruised from there en route to a season sweep of its inter-borough rival.

Frink also added three assists, three steals and three blocked shots in 37 minutes of action. Zanna closed with a season-best 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while junior Joel Hernandez had a nice floor game with nine points, nine rebounds and two assists without turning the ball over. Michael Carey and Mike Aaman each had 12 points to lead Wagner, who fell to 15-9 on the year and 8-5 in NEC play.

LIU Brooklyn returns to action on Monday, Feb. 15 for a contest with arch rival St. Francis Brooklyn. The game, which will tipoff at 1:00 p.m., will be shown nationally on ESPU.